POWER was at the POWERGEN International exhibition and summit, which was held in New Orleans, Louisiana, Nov. 19–21, 2019. Among the experts we met with at the show were Paul Browning, CEO of Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Americas; Chris Mieckowski, director of global solutions marketing and strategy with Siemens; Robert Yeager, president of Emerson’s Power […]

The POWERGEN International exhibition and summit—one of the world’s largest power-industry events with more than 750 exhibitors—was held at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, Nov. 19–21, 2019. POWER was there (Figure 1) to connect with leaders from the industry and report on the latest news from the show. Hot topics […]

Siemens has delivered its first-ever HL-class gas turbine to Duke Energy’s Lincoln County Combustion Turbine generation station, located near Denver, North Carolina. The HL-class gas turbine was derived from proven Siemens H-class technology in what the company calls “an evolutionary development step.” The advanced air-cooled gas turbine is a next-generation design that uses a series […]

Exelon Generation said EDF Group—a French integrated electricity company—is exercising a put option to sell its 49.99% interest in the R.E. Ginna, Nine Mile Point, and Calvert Cliffs nuclear energy facilities. The two companies will now begin negotiations for Exelon to acquire full ownership of the plants. EDF’s involvement in the facilities was through the […]

The long-overdue Olkiluoto 3 nuclear power plant (NPP) in Finland has been delayed again, but nuclear projects in Russia, Canada, and Iran achieved important milestones in November. New Novovoronezh Unit Enters Commercial Operation Rosatom announced on Nov. 1 that Unit 2 at the Novovoronezh Nuclear Power Plant II entered commercial operation 30 days ahead of […]

Many networks across a variety of verticals including government, military, financial services, power plants, and industrial manufacturing have been so-called “air-gapped.” This means they are physically and logically isolated from other networks where communication between these networks is not physically or logically possible. This can be a good thing or bad thing depending on your […]

November 6, 2019 EPA Proposes Revisions to Two Obama-Era Rules: Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Coal Ash The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued long-awaited proposed revisions of two 2015 Obama-era rules that apply to effluent limitations guidelines (ELGs) for steam electric power plants and coal combustion… Read More Sponsored Content See $500,000 in Savings With […]

Good infrastructure is an essential component for the economic growth of a country, and power plays a crucial role in infrastructure development. India is home to 18% of the world’s total population, and it uses about 6% of the world’s primary energy. The total power generating capacity from all sources of power in India has […]

Oilfield service providers are increasingly moving beyond oil and gas development work, and into renewable energy projects, according to a study conducted by Rystad Energy, an independent research and business intelligence company that provides data, tools, analytics, and consultancy services to the global energy industry. In findings released on Oct. 29, Rystad said that oil […]

What does it mean to have “extreme visibility” in an operational technology (OT) environment? According to Claroty, a New York-based company that offers cybersecurity products for industrial control systems, it’s having the ability to see all assets on a network, knowing what they are, and understanding what functions they perform. The company says the more […]

Siemens celebrated the official opening of an innovation center in Orlando, Florida. The only one of its kind in the U.S., it pairs design with manufacturing, robotics, rapid prototyping, scanning, and digital tools. Designed to support the customers of Siemens Gas and Power, it is equipped with the latest digital technologies to make repairs faster […]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced 12 projects had been selected as part of its Practices to Accelerate the Commercialization of Technologies (PACT) Laboratory Call. The projects will receive about $2.5 million in awards, combined with more than $1 million in cost share “to develop new ways to increase technology commercialization by reducing barriers […]

A recent study found that electric vehicle (EV) batteries used as a utility virtual power plant (VPP) could shift the entire residential peak load to nighttime hours with only 10% EV market saturation. The research was conducted by Jackson Associates, an Orlando, Florida-based firm that does energy forecasting, data development, and energy-related analysis. The study […]

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Rick Perry is headed to Brussels, Belgium, to promote small modular reactor (SMR) concepts to European Union (EU) prospects. Perry will be a featured speaker during the “1st U.S.-EU High-Level Industrial Forum on Small Modular Reactors,” which will be held Oct. 21. “The U.S. and the EU share a […]

<!doctype html> October 16, 2019 GE Unveils New H-Class Gas Turbine—and Already Has a First Order GE recently unveiled the 7HA.03, the newest model in its 2014-launched high-efficiency air-cooled (HA) gas turbine line. The company also announced that Florida Power and… Read More THE BIG PICTURE: Hydrogen Power Hydrogen is emerging as a formidable player […]

<!doctype html> October 9, 2019 NETL: Coal Chemical Looping Combustion Closer to Commercialization Chemical looping combustion (CLC), an advanced coal power technology that could markedly simplify carbon capture at power plants, has moved significantly closer to commercialization, owing to a breakthrough in oxygen… Read More A New Technology for Bottom Ash Conversion Emerges New environmental […]

According to the Farmer’s Almanac, the winter of 2019–2020 will be filled with bitterly cold weather in the eastern parts of the Rockies and east to the Appalachians. The Northeast should also experience very cold temperatures. For municipalities, public utilities, landscapers, and others that are involved in outdoor work and snow removal, there is always […]

The final major module needed to construct Vogtle Units 3 and 4—the only new commercial nuclear power units currently under construction in the U.S.—has arrived at the site near Waynesboro, Georgia. That means all 1,485 major modules have been manufactured and safely delivered to the project. Georgia Power announced the milestone in a press release […]

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) and NuScale Power, two leading companies in the race to build small modular reactors (SMRs) for power generation, have recently announced deals that could result to new plants being constructed in Europe. Feasibility Studies in Estonia GEH on Oct. 3 said it had signed an agreement with Fermi Energia OÜ, […]

Delivering energy has centered on the fundamental tenant of being reliably available. As energy providers strive to maintain that availability, they all too often push security to the backburner. Many unsafe practices have fallen into place for the sake of speed and efficiency, including the use of default and shared passwords, open access, and little […]

Power plants have an abundance of data. Temperatures, pressures, flows, and various other parameters are all monitored constantly to ensure plants are operating properly. However, a lot of data is not used to its fullest extent. With the right tools, data can be more-thoroughly analyzed and findings can be acted upon to improve efficiency and […]

“The world’s nuclear plants continue to perform excellently,” Agneta Rising, director general of the World Nuclear Association, wrote in the preface to the recently released World Nuclear Performance Report 2019. Yet, if the nuclear industry is to reach its “Harmony” goal, which is for nuclear generation to supply 25% of the world’s electricity before 2050, […]

September 25, 2019 PV Peaker Plant a Model for Solar-Plus-Storage Projects Pairing solar energy resources with batteries is a winning solution. It allows utilities to store excess power when the sun is shining but demand is low, and use it when the sun sets but demand is high. One Read More Successful Dam Stabilization Project […]

Winners of The Cleanie Awards—the only comprehensive awards program focused exclusively on the clean energy industry—were unveiled on Sept. 24 during North America Smart Energy Week in Salt Lake City, Utah. “The Cleanie Awards honors companies and individuals at the forefront of innovation for the clean technology and renewables industries,” said Elyssa Haynes, program director for […]

September 18, 2019 IHS: Natural Gas Prices Will Fall Below $2/MMBtu in 2020 Average natural gas prices at Henry Hub in 2020 could fall to below $2/MMBtu —a level “not seen in decades”—owing to a persistent oversupply, a new report from information and… Read More New York City to Get Eight Floating Aeroderivative Gas Turbines […]

For some utilities, community solar is a way to offer consumers access to clean energy without requiring investment in rooftop solar. For others, it presents a means of strategically placing solar resources in the most beneficial locations. Meanwhile, many utilities view it as an opportunity to learn how best to integrate distributed energy resources (DERs). […]

What is a superconductor? One definition says, “a material that can conduct electricity or transport electrons from one atom to another with no resistance.” “At the base physics level, what a superconductor does is it moves a lot more power per unit volume or per unit weight, so you have a very high energy-dense material […]

September 11, 2019 PG&E’s Reorganization Plan—Cap Wildfire Liabilities at $18 Billion Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) wants to cap its liabilities from damages caused by California wildfires at about $18 billion, according to the reorganization plan filed by the bankrupt utility… Read More Combustion Optimization to Improve Heat Rate and Lower NOx Power plant operators […]

GE introduced the F-class gas turbine to the power industry nearly 30 years ago. Since that time, more than 1,500 F-class machines have operated for more than 54 million hours. With available outputs ranging from 51 MW for a GE 6F.01 simple cycle unit to more than 1,000 MW for a 3×1 7F.05-based combined cycle […]

The power grid is changing across the U.S. More distributed energy resources are being added every day. That brings challenges for power utilities, but also opportunities. John Di Stasio, president of the Large Public Power Council (LPPC), which represents 27 of the largest locally governed and operated not-for-profit electric systems in the U.S., was a […]